The Partner Project
by thelittlelime
Summary: After one too many inter-house fights, Dumbledore comes up with a new way to bring the houses together. AJ/AP, AS/TH, KB/MF, HG/DM, GW/BZ.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing except the plot :) **

The 7th of November was a day unlike any other Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had ever seen. Were one to wander the grounds of the castle, and the halls themselves they would find a notable lack of presence. The corridors were deserted, and dormitories were empty because all the pupils had been gathered in the Great Hall and were awaiting the headmaster Albus Dumbledore to address them. The hall was filled with the quiet murmurs of students trying to guess why the headmaster had gathered them together, and in a corner of the Gryffindor table five girls sat huddled together whispering their own suggestions.

"My guess is everyone gets reprimanded about inter-house unity then we all get to leave" whispered 7th year Katie Bell as she took a sip of the pumpkin juice in front of her. Katie was seated with her fellow 7th year chasers Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet, 6th year Hermione Granger, and 5th year Ginny Weasley. Being opinionated Gryffindor girls and having all had to deal with grief from Weasley men at some point, the five had formed a bond and quickly became as close as sisters.

"No way Katie!" Angelina exclaimed attracting the attention of some other students sitting close by. She smiled apologetically at them and turned back to her friends. "This is the seventh house related fight in the last two months. There's no way Dumbledore's gonna let us get away with another warning."

"She's right" Ginny chimed in. "He's already given us three warnings about fighting with other houses. What's that thing muggles like to say? Three swings and you're out?"

"I think you mean three strikes and you're out" interjected Hermione with a laugh. Before the girls could continue their conversation, Dumbledore walked up to the podium and cleared his throat to gain the attention of his pupils. The room immediately lapsed into silence and everyone had turned to face their headmaster.

"Good evening students" Dumbledore began with a small smile. "I believe you all have some idea as to why I've gathered you here today. The altercation that happened today between Gryffindor and Slytherin pupils is the 7th of such that has occurred in the last two months, and as you should all understand this is unacceptable. Though you may be sorted into separate houses at the end of the day you are all Hogwarts students, and it's time you started acting as such. Your Heads of Houses and I have spent the last few hours trying to come up with a solution to this issue and after much deliberation we've come up with what I like to call, The Partner Project." Dumbledore paused for a minute and the hall was immediately filled with whispers between students.

"What the hell is the Partner Project" Alicia Spinnet asked looking confused. It seemed she wasn't the only one with this question as most students in the Great Hall looked confused or worried. Even the Slytherins, who had mastered the art of looking apathetic and uninterested, were alert and paying attention. As the noise in the hall increased, Dumbledore tapped his wand against his throat twice before putting it on the stand and facing his pupils.

"Silence" he boomed, capturing everyone's attention once again. "The Partner Project is something your professors and I designed to strengthen inter-house unity and create a collective sense of Hogwarts student identity, rather than enforce the boundaries between houses. Your Heads of Houses and I have devised a list of the name of every pupil in the 5th, 6th and 7th years and as of tomorrow we will pair you with a pupil of the same year from a different house. This pupil will become your partner for the next 3 months and you will be required to spend time with them every day. Your schedules will change to accommodate your partner, and every pair will be taking all their classes together including any spare periods. Pairs that excel together will be rewarded with house points, while those who fail to cooperate will be punished accordingly." As soon as Dumbledore finished talking and sat down at the Head Table, the Great Hall was filled with angry protests from students.

"Why've we got to share our spares with them?" shouted Fred Weasley angrily standing up.

"Just wait till my father hears about this!" huffed Draco Malfoy from his spot at the Slytherin table. At the Gryffindor table, Angelina, Katie, Hermione, and Ginny were all complaining about the implications of Dumbledore's new project, but Alicia was looking at it from a different angle.

"Girls! Do you know what this means?" Alicia asked excitedly slamming her hands down on the table to get her friends attention.

"Hell yes I do" said Angelina frowning while observing the other tables. "It means were either gonna get stuck with a pushover Hufflepuff, a nerdy Ravenclaw, or God forbid a Slytherin."

"Well yes" said Alicia hesitantly, seeming to deflate for a second "But it also means that I could spend the next three months attached at the hip to Cedric Diggory!" Alicia squealed, perking up instantly. "Can you imagine spending all your time with someone as good looking as Cedric? I can't imagine anyone considering that a punishment." The other girls stared at her incredulously for a moment before Katie snorted and they all burst into laughter.

"Only you would come to that conclusion Leesh" said Hermione lightly bumping her shoulder against Alicia's.

"I can't help it" said Alicia with a grin. "I'm an optimist."

"More like desperate for a man" said Ginny still giggling. "Hopefully we'll all get someone decent" she said still smiling at her friends.

"Here's to getting a good partner and not getting a Slytherin" Katie said raising her glass to which the other girls all clinked their glasses against hers. Professor McGonagall stepped forward to announce that all students were dismissed, and that the lists of partners would be posted in each common room the following morning. The girls got up and followed the crowd of students back to the Gryffindor common room. When they gave the Fat Lady the password and entered, they were met with pandemonium. Most Gryffindor's were gathered in the common room and were still loudly protesting The Partner Project.

"I'm going to head up to the dorm, is anyone else coming?" Hermione asked, frowning at her housemates poor attitudes.

"Yeah I think I'll come too" said Ginny stretching out her back "It's been a long day". The other girls agreed, and the five quickly made their way up the stairs and into their dorm to get ready for bed. After the lights were turned off, and the girls were in their beds the room was filled with a nervous silence as they were all lost in their thoughts about the Partner Project.

"Cheer up girls" Angelina said into the dark. "How bad could it possibly be?" Her question was met with silence and the girls quickly fell asleep lost in their own thoughts.

At precisely 7:21am on Saturday November 8th, the entire Gryffindor House was woken up by Ginny Weasley's scream of anger.

**Alright so that's the first chapter! Let me know if you like it and want me to continue, or think I should scrap the idea all together. If I do continue, the next chapter will be in the Slytherin POV. I should note that the pairings in this story are going to be Angelina/Adrian, Alicia/Terence, Katie/Marcus, Hermione/Draco, and Ginny/Blaise. Thanks for reading! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors Notes: Hi all! Thank you so much for the lovely feedback on the first chapter! It's great to know you seem to be enjoying it so far, so I'll definitely keep going. I wanted to especially thank "**Bec PotterYOLO" **for noticing an error I completely missed with Ginny and Blaise's ages, so for continuities sake let's just say that Angelina, Alicia, Katie, Marcus, Terence and Adrian are in 7th year, Hermione and Draco are in 6th year, and Blaise and Ginny are in 5th year. I really enjoy seeing feedback in the reviews so I may hold off on posting chapter 3 until I get a bit more input. **

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing except the plot :)**

When Adrian Pucey woke up, it was not because of the screams of Ginerva Weasley, but rather the rays of sunlight that had filtered in through his dormitory's windows. Unable to force himself to get up, he kept his eyes closed and listened to the sounds that filled the room he shared with his four best friends: the soft sound of Marcus' snores, and the rustling of Terence's sheets that came from his inability to sleep in one spot for more than five minutes. When the rumbling in his stomach became impossible to ignore, Adrian sat up and looked around the room. Blaise had always been an early riser, and so it came as no surprise that his bed was already made and empty but he couldn't say the same for the rest of the boys as they were all still fast asleep. Sometime during the night, Draco had kicked his bed sheets off, and they were dangling precariously close to the edge. Adrian sighed before grabbing them and throwing them on top of Draco's sleeping form as he left the room. When he reached the stairs to the common room, he noticed there were a number of Slytherin's clustered around the wall closest to the entrance reading something. Adrian approached and quickly realized it was the list of partners that Dumbledore had mentioned the night before. As the group surrounding the list was mostly 6th year Slytherin girls Adrian thought his best bet to see the list anytime soon would be charm rather than force.

"Excuse me ladies" Adrian said smiling at the girls who were crowded in front of him. They immediately lapsed into giggles, with more than one turning bright red from the power of his smile alone before parting like the Red Sea so he was free to scan the list. The first thing Adrian noticed was that Dumbledore seemed to have made it a priority to pair Gryffindors and Slytherins together, while Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were paired. His eyes drifted to the 7th year pairs and he leisurely scanned for his own name, while looking at some of the other pairings. When he found Marcus' name beside Katie Bell's he scoffed at the thought of how excited Marcus would at the prospect tormenting the tiny blonde for three months. A couple of spaces down, Adrian finally found his own name neatly written alongside his partners.

_Adrian Pucey & Angelina Johnson_

By noon, word had got out that Dumbledore had called another mandatory assembly, and the students were once again seated at their tables awaiting his address. The Hall was filled with noisy chatter as most people had already figured out who their partners were and were discussing the new information with their friends. At the Slytherin table, the boys had mixed reactions about the program. As Adrian had earlier predicted, Marcus was ecstatic at the fact that Katie was his partner, and spent most of the morning grinning wolfishly at her whenever they would make eye contact. Marcus had gotten his teeth fixed over the summer, so his grin was nowhere near as frightening as it had once been, but Katie still looked visibly unsettled.

"A Weasley!" Blaise exclaimed slamming his goblet down on the table. "Can you believe they stuck me with a Weasley?"

"Better a Weasley than a mudblood" Draco hissed glaring at the back of Hermione's head. "Weaselette may be the lowest of the low, but at least she's a pureblood."

"Cheer up lads" Adrian said ruffling Draco's hair from his spot beside him at the table. "It's not all bad".

"He's right" chimed in Marcus breaking his staring contest with the back of Bell's head. "We could have been stuck with Puffs or Ravenclaws."

"Easy for you to say" hissed Blaise still fuming about his partner. "At least you've got lookers. We all know there are a hundred men here who would be thrilled to have Bell or Johnson as partners".

"Can someone PLEASE tell me who Alicia Spinnet is?" Terence asked exasperatedly for at least the 20th time that morning.

"For fuck sake!" Marcus exclaimed irritated. "Only a daft twit like you would fail to notice someone we've played Quidditch against a hundred times. She's right there between Bell and Weasley" Marcus huffed turning Terence's head to look in the right direction.

"Ohhhhhh. You meant Alicia Spinnet!" Terence said grinning at the thought of spending three months with the beautiful brunette. Granted, she was another high and mighty Gryffindor and her friends did treat Slytherins as though they were no better than the dirt under their shoes, but Terence figured if he could get her to stay quiet for as long as possible, the experience might not be so bad.

"Good morning students" Dumbledore said as he approached the podium and faced his pupils. "I understand that by now most of you will have had the opportunity to figure out who your new partners are. I called you here today to distribute your new schedules and remind you that despite any personal feelings about your partners, this program is mandatory and you will be required to participate". Dumbledore flicked his wand and every 5th, 6th, and 7th year student was instantly presented with a copy of their schedule that had their name and their partners name written together in the top left corner. Dumbledore gave the students a moment to look at their revised schedules before continuing his speech. "I hope you all understand that this program is not simply a way to strengthen inter-house unity, but also to help you form new friendships and understandings of people you may never have spoken with under regular circumstances". He stopped for a moment and smiled at his students before continuing with a noticeable twinkle in his eyes. "Perhaps this may also be an opportunity for some of you to find more than friendship." The hall immediately filled with the whispers of students, some excited and some still angry that they were being forced to participate. As soon as Dumbledore announced that the assembly was over, and students were free to find their partners, the hall was lively with commotion as students made their way, some begrudgingly, to other house tables.

"Well" Adrian began standing up and stretching out his back, "we should probably go find our partners". The boys made their way past the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables and it didn't take long to spot their partners huddled together in deep conversation at the Gryffindor table.

"Oi, Bell!" shouted Marcus, interrupting the girls conversation which resulted in them turning to notice the presence of their partners. "Let's go get to know each other." Marcus presented Katie with what could only be described as a leer, which turned into a full blown grin when she sighed wearily and got up from the table before following him out of the hall. Adrian decided to stay true to his Casanova reputation, and decided charm would be a better way to win his partner over and make the whole process easier.

"Angelina" he said with a smooth grin that seemed to have an effect on every girl in the immediate vicinity except its intended target who merely arched an eyebrow and took his offered hand.

"At least you're not Montague" she muttered as she got up and followed Adrian's lead out of the Great Hall. The looks Alicia and Terence were sending each other were almost embarrassing, and their friends were soon staring at them uncomfortably. Alicia came to her senses when she felt Ginny kick her roughly underneath the table and she interrupted her "eye sex" with Terence to briefly turn back to her younger friends.

"Are you girls gonna be okay?" Alicia asked pathetically attempting to sound concerned before immediately resuming eye contact with Terence.

"Honestly Alicia! Just go already" Hermione huffed amusedly as Alicia and Terence were quickly away from the table leaving only Hermione, Ginny, Draco, and Blaise.

"Mudblood" Draco spat in greeting, smirking at Hermione.

"Ferret" she replied immediately not missing a beat.

Blaise and Ginny remained silent, and the quartet continued to glare at each other for a few seconds before Hermione and Ginny stomped off in one direction while Blaise and Draco headed back towards the Slytherin common room. Dumbledore sighed as he watched them from his spot at the head table. Their stubbornness would make the process more difficult than it needed to be for them, but since it was only the first day he hoped that they would follow the lead of their older friends and make some effort to engage with each other.

**That's all for chapter two! Hopefully you all like it, and I'll try to get chapter three out as soon as I have time to write it. On a side note, I'd love if you all would tell me which partnerships you want me to focus chapter three on. I intended to focus on two partnerships in the 3rd chapter and do the last three in the fourth chapter, so whoever the majority of you want to hear about first will show up in chapter three. Thanks for reading! xo Illie**


	3. Chapter 3

Hi everyone. Thank you so much for all the lovely feedback I've received on this so far! I didn't think anyone would read it but the feedback and support you've given me has been wonderful. It seems the majority of you wanted to hear about Draco and Hermione, so I've done that in this chapter. I apologize for their section being so short but I promise that they'll be much more about them in the chapters to come. I also focused on Katie and Marcus, so the next chapter will be about Angelina, Alicia, and Ginny and their partners.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot :)

_[Hermione and Draco]_

Hermione Jane Granger had never been one to break rules, but desperate times called for desperate measures. After having spent the majority of the day listening to Draco Malfoy list off his family's accomplishments and explain how he was superior to all the other students at Hogwarts, Hermione had lost her patience and informed Draco that she was leaving to go to the washroom. She used the temporary absence to escape his boasting and had instead taken refuge in the restricted section of the library. As Hermione absentmindedly traced the spines of the books on the shelves around her she couldn't help but think about how she wished Dumbledore had never came up with the Partner Project at all. Hermione was a rational girl and appreciated the idea of inter house unity just as much as the next person, but what she didn't appreciate was the fact that Dumbledore had paired her with the least tolerant person in the whole school. In her six years at Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy had done nothing but make her feel less than worthy and almost ashamed of her Muggle heritage. Hermione sighed as she plopped down on to the floor and watched a spider quickly scuttle underneath the dusty shelf. As much as she tried to be tolerant of him, everything about him seemed to irritate her recently especially the way he said -

"Mudblood!" Draco called gleefully interrupting Hermione's train of thought. "I thought I'd find you here" he said, walking over to stand in front of her.

"What do you want now? I've already listened to the Malfoy family history 64 times today" Hermione muttered weakly, resting her head down on her knees.

"Dumbledore said we have to spend time together. I didn't take you for a rule breaker Granger" Draco said dusting off his robes and staring down at Hermione with disdain.

"I'm not" Hermione said quickly lifting her head to look at Draco. "Dumbledore created the Partner Project, not the Draco Malfoy project! We're supposed to be getting to know each other, and in case you didn't get the message that means it's two- sided Malfoy!"

"I don't need to hear your life story. I already know you Mudblood" Draco sneered looking down at Hermione. Hermione's face flushed red with anger and she stood up and glared at him.

"You don't know anything about me" Hermione hissed angrily, her fists balling up unconsciously.

"Sure I do" Draco said taking a step closer to her so that their chests were almost touching. "I know you're a poor, Mudblood know-it-all who only scores top marks by sucking up to every professor in the entire school. Everyone knows that people only keep you around so that you can do their coursework for them. You think your pureblood friends would willingly associate with a dirty Mudblood if they weren't getting anything out of it?" Hermione's eyes filled with tears as she took a step back from Draco. She knew that she shouldn't let his words affect her, but his voice was filled with so much hate that she couldn't help but take his words to heart. Rather than lose face and cry in front of him, Hermione turned on heel and ran from the library, past students who looked at her with concern, until she reached her dormitory where she cast a silencing charm on her bed, drew her curtains closed and cried herself to sleep.

_[Katie and Marcus]_

If one were to walk past the Great Lake, they would stumble upon a very content Katie Bell, and a very disappointed Marcus Flint. Marcus had spent the better part of the morning trying everything he could think of to provoke Katie, but his efforts were proving to be useless. Katie refused to take any bait and was a surprisingly good sport about all his insults, giving just as good as she got. By the time they ended up at the Great Lake, Marcus had given up trying to start a fight with her and instead dejectedly lay down on the grass beside her to stare at the cloudy sky.

"Why are we even out here? It's freezing" Marcus complained loudly after several minutes of silence, the November cold forcing him to stuff his hands into his pockets in an effort to retain heat.

"Because we're waiting" Katie replied, eyes trained on the sky.

"Waiting for who you daft witch?" Marcus asked sitting up and looking around." There isn't a person out here except us". Katie laughed loudly and while Marcus was momentarily surprised by how nice it sounded, he hid his appreciation by shooting a glare at the giggling blonde.

"We're not waiting for a person. We're waiting for it to rain".

"To rain?!" Marcus shouted incredulously. "Have you lost your mind? I don't know or care about your reasons, but I'm not spending the next three weeks in the infirmary with pneumonia because some daft with wanted to lie in the rain!" Marcus started to stand up but was stopped by Katie placing her arm on his bicep.

"Wait!" she said holding him in place. "Dumbledore said we have to get to know each other, and that's what I'm trying to do".

"By getting me ill?" Marcus huffed, crossing his arms in irritation.

"Just trust me" Katie said pulling him back down so that he was once again lying beside her. "I do this all the time". As the first few drops of rain started to fall Katie pulled out her wand and pointed it at Marcus muttering something under her breath. He immediately felt the biting November chill become replaced by a warming sensation that he quickly recognized as a heating spell. Katie then pointed her wand at the sky and he noticed she must have cast some sort of invisible bubble around them because the rain was coming down but nothing was hitting them. Marcus was so caught up in watching the rain come down in torrents that he didn't notice Katie had turned on her side to face him. "I like laying out here when it rains, it helps me think. No one knows that but you, so you better come up with something good to tell me about yourself" Katie said offering Marcus a rare smile. Despite being somewhat touched by the gesture, Marcus couldn't let his Slytherin reputation fail him so he responded to Katie's friendly smile with a sneer.

"What makes you think I'll tell you anything about myself?" Marcus asked turning away from Katie and looking back at the sky.

"Because I don't think you're as bad as people say you are" Katie said matter of factly.

"Well you're in for a rude awakening Bell" Marcus said closing his eyes, and putting his hands behind his head.

"So you're not gonna cooperate?" Katie asked quietly sitting up and staring at Marcus.

"Nope" he replied smugly relaxing back into the grass.

"Suit yourself" Katie responded laying back down. As soon as he heard her lay down Marcus found himself surrounded by cold and soaked by the pouring rain. He sprang up in shock and turned to face the woman beside him.

'Bell!" Marcus screamed in anger trying and failing to touch her through the shield she had placed around herself. "Let me back in you stupid witch!"

"Are you going to cooperate?" she asked looking at him from her spot on the grass.

"Let me back in" Marcus hissed, his face turning red.

"Goodbye Marcus. I'll see you tomorrow" Katie said closing her eyes and effectively ignoring Marcus who glared at her before quickly running back to the castle for shelter.

Alright gang, that's all for this chapter. Let me know your thoughts and feel free to leave any plot suggestion or things you wanna see in the reviews : ) xo Illie


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